In the course of pole vaulting the end of the vaulting pole is engaged in a vaulting or planting box at ground level that serves as a pivot point for the pole. It is a practical necessity that some form of padding be provided behind the vaulting box and preferably at each side of the box as well in order to cushion the descent of the athlete at the conclusion of a vault. In addition to providing protection, such padding also enhances performance by reducing the athlete's concern about landing.
Padding is typically provided for by utilizing an extensive landing cushion formed of a resilient material such as urethane foam or any of various other synthetic foam substances which exhibit similar physical properties. To pad areas at each side of the vaulting box while enabling planting of the pole, such landing cushions have a rearwardly extending notch in the front end in position to be situated over the vaulting box when the cushion is in use.
Early pole vaulting installations sometimes provided for cushioning of the athlete's descent by means of an excavation behind the vaulting box which was filled with sawdust or the like and out of custom it is common to refer to the more recently developed landing cushions of the above discussed kind as landing "pits". Also as a matter of custom the notch is often referred to by the term "cutout" since in some cases it is formed by cutting away material from the front portion of a cushion. Use of these customary terms herein should not be construed to mean that the cushion necessarily extend below ground level in use nor that the notch necessarily be manufactured by removing material from the front of a cushion assembly. More typically, under current practice, the landing cushion is situated wholly above ground and may be manufactured by assembling precut blocks of resilient foam material.
The configuration of the notch or cutout has been a source of serious problems because of seemingly conflicting requirements which should be met. As the area of impact of the athlete is variable and unpredictable, particularly in the case of unsuccessful vaults, it is desirable that the cushion extend as closely as is practical to both the back and the sides of the vaulting box. An opposing consideration has been that if a notch or cutout of conventional shape is sufficiently constricted to best serve that objective, then it may also interfere with bending of the vaulting pole.
During the initial stages of a vault, the pole typically undergoes a very pronounced bending. While the bending of the pole at a very early stage of the vault tends to be directed towards the back of the notch, this condition does not persist. At a later stage, when the curvature has become more pronounced and the athlete is rising, the bowing of the pole tends to shift and become more sidewardly directed. If the bent pole contacts the notch sidewalls or other surfaces at that stage a poor vault or a failed vault is likely to result. Even in instances where contact of the pole with the walls of the notch does not actually occur, the knowledge that it is possible may inhibit the athlete's maneuvers.
The size of the conventional rectangular notch or cutout relative to the vaulting box has tended to be a compromise between these opposing considerations and has not been fully satisfactory from either standpoint.
Efforts have heretofore been made to design a specialized notch configuration which would provide more extensive protection in the vaulting box area while also allowing for bending of the pole. In particular, landing cushions have been provided with a notch having sidewalls which converge towards the back of the notch while being divergent from each other in the upward direction so that the notch is broader at the top than at the bottom and broader at the front than at the back.
These prior specialized notch configurations have by no means fully resolved the conflict between the objective of providing increased protection for the athlete and that of avoiding interference with the vaulting pole. If the width of the notch and the slant of the sidewalls are sufficiently small to provide the preferred degree of protection then contacts of the curved pole with the sides of the notch and restriction or inhibition of the athlete's motions remain common occurrences. The problem has been aggravated by the increasing use of extremely flexible poles, having resiliencies matched to the weight and strength of the vaulter, in order to vault to greater heights. Utilizing this modern equipment and techniques, pole curvatures tend to be much more extreme than in the past.
Prior cushions having these specialized notch configurations typically have a top surface which slopes downward toward the front of the cushion. An undesirable result of the problem discussed above has been a tendency for athletes to try and avoid the pole contact problem by placing the landing cushion further back, relative to the vaulting box, then was intended during the design of the cushion. This locates the vaulting box at a lower more forward region of the cushion and thus provides somewhat more pole maneuvering room. Unfortunately it also lessens the degree of protection provided to the athlete by the landing cushion. Rules prohibiting this practice have been made by organizations which sponsor track meets but it has been observed that such rules are often not enforced by officials who recognize the limitations on vaulting performance which may arise from actual contact of the pole with the walls of the notch or merely from inhibition brought about by the athlete's awareness of the possibility that a vault might be ruined by such an occurrence.
To resolve the above discussed problems, a landing cushion should provide cushioning material which extends closer to the sides of the vaulting box but in a configuration which enables freedom for bending of the base of the vaulting pole without contact between the pole and the walls of the notch. The configuration should not constitute an inducement for misplacement of the cushion relative to the vaulting box but should instead encourage a correct placement.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.